June 12, International Shia Day
June 12 marks International Shia Day, a day dedicated to recognizing hardships Shia Muslims as a minority group face.
June 12 marks International Shia Day, a day dedicated to recognizing hardships Shia Muslims as a minority group face.
Shia Muslims, despite their vast existence, they have one of the highest rates of discrimination and violent targeting worldwide.
Shia Muslims are subjected to discrimination, imprisonment, and even execution for practicing their beliefs by not just terror groups, but also by governments who have systematized anti-Shiism within their domestic and foreign policies.
Violence against Shia Muslims does not differentiate victims by age, gender, location, or socioeconomic status.
In 2019, an approximate 3,540 incidents of imprisonment, denaturalization, injury, loss of life, life-sentences, kidnapping, denial of services, arrests, and property damage targeting Shia Muslims were reported by Shia Rights Watch. The organization noted that this number is just the tip of the iceberg as the majority of Anti-Shia violence is not stated in fear of persecution.
Not only do people not report violence, they actively withhold their religious identity.
This International Shia Day, Shia Rights Watch calls on all individuals to stand proud in support of individual rights to exist. We all have the right to express our identities without the fear of being targeted. The right to Be is regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, and 2020 is the year to stand up for our brothers and sisters in humanity.
